2017 Kitchen Garden Planting List

I mentioned in my last post that, despite our challenges in the Kitchen Garden last year, we’ve decided to move forward with planting it out again this year. We will, however, be simplifying things just a bit.

The Plan

Get Organized

With my two nifty new photo-turned-seed organizers all filled up with fully organized and inventoried seeds, I’m feeling incredibly blessed to hold so much potential in my hands!  Such amazing hope-filled potential!

And, just in case you’re wondering…No, two entire containers did not contain all of my seeds…I need at least one more for herbs and flowers…But the two I got sure are nifty, aren’t they?!

Plant only what we actually eat on a regular basis.

This means no eggplant or okra because, while I’ve been hell bent on growing both because they seem like they’d be fun to grow, we don’t actually eat a lot of either. They are also, in fact, incredibly challenging for me to grow and keep alive.

Don’t plant what others can grow better than we can.

For this year, at least, this means no onions and no garlic.

The onions are because we’ve never really done well with onions and the garlic is because…well…we just didn’t plant any last fall because we were fried and exhausted and ready to give up entirely (for at least a year) on growing a garden.

Now we know better and will always plant garlic because it’s wonderful, grows well for us, and is used in copious amounts around here.

Plan ahead.

This means building trellising before the tomatoes even go in the ground instead of when they’re already sending their vines in a million different directions.

This also means making a schedule of what should be sown (and resown) when and doing our damnedest to stick to it.

Oh, also! This means being realistic about our capacity for weeding and caretaking each individual plant. Hence, the Three Sisters Garden taking up a good portion of the garden. Once it all gets to a certain height, it’ll pretty much take care of itself until harvest time.

Surrender.

While we will do our best (as always), we’ve learned there must be a level of surrender.  Hope, planning, good intentions, and surrender. Mother Earth is a ferocious one, humbling us at every turn. And so, if necessary, we will surrender to what is instead of hoping for what isn’t. Our busy schedules, coupled with the uncertainty of climate change, will have us continuing to learn at every turn.

And so, with all that being said, here is our 2017 Kitchen Garden Planting List

Start Inside

These seeds will need to be started under our grow lights in our upstairs bathroom shortly. Once we fix the torn plastic sheeting on our Greenhouse, they’ll all be moved out there.

• Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Jalapeno
• Cayenne
• Tomatillos
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cucumbers
• Sage
• Oregano
• Nasturtium
• Calendula
• Marigolds

Direct Sow

As soon as we can get out and work the soil a bit we’ll plant:

• Peas
• Salad Greens
• Kale
• Spinach
• Chard
• Sunflowers

In addition to our Three Sisters Garden, the below varieties will be directly sown into the garden once the chance of frost has passed (in mid-May):

• Peas
• Bush Beans (Tri-Color)
• Potatoes
• Summer Squash (including Patty Pans)
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Beets
• Basil
• Chamomile
• Dill
• Sunflowers

And so, with our fingers crossed and our Farmer Hearts wishing on every star there is to be wished upon, we’re once again hopeful for an abundant growing season.

Wish us luck! And know that, of course, I’ll be doing the same for you!

xoxo,
M